Process for cleaning automatic textile winding machines



Feb. 21, 1967 SERESS ET AL 3,305,184

PROCESS FOR CLEANING AUTOMATIC TEXTILE WINDING MACHINES Filed QCt. 12,1964 I 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 GEORGE- SEIZEss and Woomzow W. HE-WlTT ATTORNEYSIN VENTORSZ Feb. 21, 1967 R S ET AL 3,305,184

PROCESS FOR CLEANING AUTOMATIC TEXTILE WINDING MACHINES Filed Oct. 12,1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Gal 60 INVENTORSZ G EORGE: SEEE-ss and Woomznw W.HEWITT BYQMA Jbgb, 12% MM ATTORNEYS Feb. 21, 1967 PROCESS FOR Filed Oct.12, 1964 G. SERESS ET AL 3,305,184

CLEANING AUTOMATIC TEXTILE WINDING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORGui-czar: 5525-255 and WoobRow W. HEWITT ATTORNEYS Feb. 21, 1967 SERESSET AL PROCESS FOR CLEANING AUTOMATIC TEXTILE WINDING MACHINES' 6Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 12, 1964 INVENTORS: GEORGE 552E555 Ema.Woomzow W. HEWITT ATTORNEYS Feb. 21, 1967 ss ET AL PROCESS FOR CLEANINGAUTOMATIC TEXTILE WINDING MACHINES Filed Oct. 12, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 5MMJLgQZA WL ATTORNEYS Feb. 21, 1967 G. SERESS ET AL PROCESS FOR CLEANINGAUTOMATIC TEXTILE WINDING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Oct. 12, 1964INVENTORS'. G EORG E- 5 E-E E55 and Woomzow W. H E-W ITT Bywflednlag M MATTORNEYS United States Patent PROCESS FOR CLEANING AUTOMATIC TEXTILEWINDING MACHINES George Seress and Woodrow W. Hewitt, Charlotte, N.C.,assignors to Parks-Cramer Company, Fitchburg, Mass,

a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Oct. 12, 1964, Ser. No. 403,227Claims. (Cl. 242-355) This invention relates to an improved process forremoving fiber waste from critical portions of automatic windingmachines during operation thereof. Automatic winding machines arecharacterized in that they comprise a row of yarn winding heads orinstrumentalities including yarn guiding, tensioning, inspecting anddetecting elements between active yarn supply and take-up packages witha reserve of supply packages for automatically replacing any exhaustedactive supply package, and wherein a winder tending mechanism repeatedlytraverses the row of winding heads and automatically grasps and unitesany parted yarns between active yarn supply and take-up packages.

With the exceptions of replenishing the reserve of supply packages,dofiing the take-up packages and periodic maintenance, yarn windingmachines of the type described above are presumed to be fully automatic.However, such winding machines have not been able to function in theircontemplated automatic manner for. prolonged periods of time due toexcessive accumulations of lint and other foreign matter on the criticalguiding, tensioning, inspecting and detecting elements thereof causingmalfunction of these elements. Although traveling blowing devices havebeen traversed over such winding machines heretofore, they have been ofsuch low power that the air streams therefrom would simply disturb andredistribute some of the lint on the more exposed upper surface portionsof the machines and reserve supply packages. The area, velocity anddirection of application of the air streams also have been such thatthey were ineffective to remove lint from the more critical and somewhatshielded lower portions of the winding machines. The trend of theindustry is to increase the speed of winding machines. The faster yarntravels through a winding machine the greater the shedding of lint fromthe yarn and the more important becomes the necessity for effectivelyremoving residual lint from critical portions of automatic windingmachines.

Among the most critical portions of an automatic winding machine are theyarn guiding and detecting elements which generally are in the form ofrelatively movable intermeshing grates normally biased together andagainst the yarn therebetween. The adjacent yarn tensioning elements arealso quite critical and generally are in the form of a rotary diskagainst which the yarn is normally yieldably urged 'by a tension member.During each operation of the winder tending mechanism in grasping andtying opposed portions of a parted yarn, the grates are separated andthe tension member is moved away from its disk. Accumulations of lint onthe grates may prevent the grates from moving into greater intermeshingrelationship upon subsequent parting of the yarn so the grates will notperform their intended detecting function calling for operation of thewinder tending mechanism. Further, if excessive lint becomes lodgedbetween the aforementioned disk and the tension member, the yarn willnot be maintained under proper winding tension in its course to thecorresponding take-up package, thus resulting in a take-up package ofuneven density.

Each inspecting element of an automatic winding machine is a form ofsnick plate or slub-catcher, another very critical element, whichfunctions to part the yarn whenever a thick place therein enters theinspecting element so as to remove such thick place, after which theopposed portions of yarn are united by the knotter on the tendingmechanism. Excessive accumulations of lint not only cause malfunction ofthe inspecting element, but also they form bunches on the yarn whichmust be removed by the inspecting element or which are wound onto thetake-up package.

Accordingly, since the conventional blowing devices have been inadequateto clean the critical portions discussed above, frequent manual cleaningWith high pressure compressed air hoses has been necessary. In a typicalmill, it was necessary to stop each automatic Winder and clean itmanually at intervals of about every four hours and it required aboutfifteen minutes to clean about fifty Winding heads. Even then, it wasnecessary to manually remove some lint from these critical areas attimes between successive general cleaning operations. It was necessaryto stop the winding machine during general man ual cleaning because ofthe hazards presented by the moving parts of the machines and thebreaking or slackening of the yarn by the strong air blast from themanually manipulated compressed air hose.

A new process for cleaning automatic textile winding machines now hasbeen discovered enabling the use of traveling fine jet air streamsdirected at and oscillating adjacent to the critical areas of suchmachines and which air streams are of small area and of high velocity sothey achieve very effective cleaning of the machines without adverselyeffecting the yarn being wound or extending from the reserve supplypackages to the usual anchor means adjacent the paths of the graspingelements of the Y winder tending mechanism.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel processfor removing fiber waste from critical areas of an automatic windingmachine, or a row of such machines, which process comprises producingone or more high velocity fine jet oscillating air streams and causingthese air streams to travel automatically and repeatedly along thewinding machine or row of machines and to be directed against criticalareas of the winding machine or row of machines in such a manner as toremove lint from these critical areas effectively without interferingwith operation of the winding machine, or row of machines or the yarn inprocess and in reserve thereon.

It is another object of this invention to provide a process for removinglint from portions or areas of a row of winding heads and a windertending mechanism of an automatic textile winding machine duringoperation thereof and wherein said portions include yarn guiding,inspecting and detecting elements positioned between respective yarnsupply and take-up packages, and yarn ensnaring and tying elementscooperating with said guiding, inspecting and detecting elements, andwhich process includes directing high velocity fine jet air streamstoward these areas and causing the air streams to travel automaticallylongitudinally of the row of winding heads while continuouslyoscillating these air streams substantially in directions laterally ofthe path of travel thereof, and automatically repeating the travel ofthe high velocity fine jet air streams at such frequency, rate of traveland rate of oscillation as to maintain said areas in substantiallylint-free condition for extended periods of time.

Another object is to dispose of lint removed from the aforesaid areasand settling on the floor by means of a traveling suction cleaner movingwith the air streams and having one or more suction nozzles travelingclose to the floor to suck the lint off the floor and into a collectortraveling in unison with the fine jet air streams.

In order to obtain the foregoing and other objects in a Wide variety ofautomatic winder cleaning situations, it has been found that it isnecessary to combine several important features.

Of particular importance is the fact that high velocity air streams areemployed, that is, air streams having a velocity of from about 2,000 toabout 9,000 feet or more per minute at the surfaces to be cleaned. Tosecure a velocity of from 2,000 to 9,000 feet per minute at surfaces tobe cleaned, a velocity at the nozzle on the order of 6,000 :to 12,000feet per minute is desirable depending upon the distances from thenozzles to such surfaces to be cleaned and as determined by machineobstructions past which the nozzles must move without being encumberedthereby.

In order to remove the lint effectively, it is also important to utilizefine jet air streams, that is, air streams from small nozzle openings,preferably on the order of about one inch in diameter. By using aplurality of closely spaced or grouped nozzles and keeping the area ofeach nozzle opening small and delivering :the air at a high velocity,the effective area of each air stream at the cleaning point is verysmall, permitting accurate placement and control of the air stream atthe surfaces to be cleaned without interference with the winding machineoperation.

For effective cleaning of critical areas of automatic winding machines,we have found that it is important to oscillate the fine jet highvelocity air streams substantially in planes normal to the direction oftravel of the cleaner when the cleaner travels longitudinally of the rowof winding heads. In other words, the air streams oscillate or move backand forth continuously, substantially in directions normal to thelongitudinal direction of the travel of the cleaner. The rate ofoscillation is sufiiciently rapid relative to the rate of travel of thecleaner to properly minimize the longitudinal distance traveled by eachair jet during each period of oscillation of the air stream.

The usually preferred rate of travel of the blowing cleaner is fromabout 30 to about 50 feet per minute. This slow speed in combinationwith lateral oscillation of each fine jet high velocity air streaminsures an effective attack upon lint resting on or adhering to parts ofthe winding machine to dislodge and remove it.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a typical automatic yarnwinding machine showing traveling blowing and suction cleaners inassociation therewith for carrying out the process of the presentinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view looking at the righthand side of thecoupling 67 and associated elements in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a View looking at the opposite side of the winding machineand the traveling cleaners from that of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an end elevation of the automatic winding machine andtraveling cleaners looking at the righthand side of FIGURE =1;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view, mostly in elevation, takensubstantially along line 5-5 in FIGURE 1 and showing one of the windingheads of the automatic winding machine;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the essential components of one of thewinding heads looking in at the lefthand side of the machine in FIGURE4, with some of the parts removed or omitted for purposes of clarity;and

FIGURE 7 is an inverted plan view of the traveling blowing cleanerlooking up at the bottom thereof in FIG- URE 5, but showing the sameremoved from the overhead track and also showing the blowing tubes andcorresponding nozzles removed therefrom for purposes of clarity.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 broadlydesignates a typical automatic winding machine or row of automaticwinding machines to which the process of the present invention isapplied. The machine 10 is representative of various types of automaticwinding machines such as is known as a Barber-Colman Barcomatic, aFoster-Mueller or a Leesona Uniconer and is specifically illustrated asbeing of a :type known as a Schlafhorst Aut-oconer by way of exampleonly. 'Since the Winding machine 10 is of generally well-knownconstruction, only essential elements thereof will be described indetail, with particular reference being given to those elements oroperating instrumentalities which are critical insofar as the necessityfor maintaining the same free of excessive accumulations of lint isconcerned.

The winding machine includes a plurality or row of Winding heads orwinding units generally designated at 11, the front portion of each ofwhich is provided with a magazine or storage hopper 12 for a reservesupply of yarn packages or filled bobbins 13. The operator of themachine replenishes the supply of reserve packages 13 in the magazines12 from a container 14- which the operator moves along a suitable track15 extending longitudinally of the front side of the machine 10. As theoperator places each reserve supply package 13 in each magazine 12, shetrains or positions each end of yarn Y from the corresponding package 13past the front edge of a deflector plate 16 (FIGURE 6) and positions theyarn end adjacent the upper end of a yarn capturing suction tube 17.

Usually, a suitable guide plate is provided adjacent the upper end ofcapturing tube 17 to assist the operator in guiding the yarn ends towardand into close proximity to the upper end of tube 17, but such plate isomitted in this instance, since it would obscure other parts of themachine to be described hereinafter. The yarn end capturing tube 17extendsdownwardly and rearwardly and is connected to rigid suction duct20 (FIGURES 1, 3 and 5) extending longitudinally of the machine 10 andin which suction or negative pressure is maintained by conventionalmeans, not shown, in the head end of the machine 10.

During each bobbin transferring operation, a stopper 22 (FIGURE 6),which normally closes the upper end of capturing tube 17, isautomatically raised away from tube 17 sufliciently to permit the endsof the yarns Y to be sucked into the upper end of the tube 17 as thelowermost yarn package 13 in the corresponding magazine 12 is releasedfrom the magazine and drops into a downwardly and inwardly or rearwardlyinclined chute 23. An active yarn supply package 13a is shown positionedin a pocket 24 at the lower end of the chute 23 and from whence thecorresponding yarn Y is withdrawn in its course to a correspondingtake-up yarn package 25 at the upper portion of the machine.

As each successive take-up yarn package 25 becomes wound to the desireddiameter, the operation of the corresponding winding head 11 is stoppedautomatically, by well-known means not shown in the present drawings,and the operator subsequently removes the corresponding filled take-uppackage from the take-up package support unit 26 and places the same ona tray 27,-extending longitudinally of the upper portion of the machine10 and adjacent the rear side thereof, preparatory to another core oryarn carrier 30 being positioned on the take-up package support unit 26,Each take-up package 25 rests upon and is driven by a reversely spirallygrooved takeup roll 31, the reversely spiraled groove of which serves inthe well-known manner to traverse the yarn Y onto the correspondingreceiving or take-up package 25.

In its course from the active yarn supply package 13a to the take-uppackage 25 of each winding head 11, the yarn Y passes successivelythrough a lower guide eye 34 (FIGURE 6), between a pair of grids orgrates a, a, and then through a tension device including a driven rotarydisk b and a cooperating movable and yieldably biased tension member b.The yarn Y then passes upwardly through a suitable slub-catcher c,sometimes called a snick plate, and then through a slotted upper guideplate 35; which converges rearwardly with respect to an adjacent; guideplate 36.

The lower guide eye 34 is carried by a lower guide plate which divergesoutwardly and forwardly from guine eye 34. The grates a, a serve asdetecting elements in that one of them is biased toward the other and,in the absence of a strand of yarn therebetween, or in the event of theyarn being unduly slack, grates a, a move into closer intermeshingrelationship so as to actuate the grasping and knotting or tyingelements of a winder tending mechanism 40 (FIGURES l, 3 and 5), when itsubsequently registers with the corresponding winding head 11, as willbe later described.

The slub-catcher c, which serves as an inspecting element, is of theusual type which detects any enlarged places or slubs in the yarn Y andparts the yarn upon a corresponding enlarged portion or slub passinginto the slub-catcher. Since the construction and function of aslub-catcher is well known in the art, a further and more detaileddescription thereof is deemed unnecessary. It might be stated that theslub-catcher 0, associated with this particular type of automaticwinding machine, is of a type having a blade which is biased toward aplaten against which the yarn runs and, upon the occurrence of a slub inthe yarn, the blade is moved against the platen by the slub, thusensnaring and parting the yarn.

The winder tending mechanism 40 is a form of carriage mounted upon andlongitudinally movable upon the rigid suction conduit i.e., conduit 20serves as a track for the winder tending mechanism 40. The windertending mechanism 49 comprises a knotter 45 and a pair of automaticallyarcuately movable yarn ensnaring suction elements 46, 47 (FIGURES 3 and5). The yarn ensnaring elements 46, 47 are of hollow or tubularconstruction and communicate with the hollow interior of the housing ofthe winder tending mechanism 40. The winder tending mechanism 40 isdriven to reciprocate along the rigid suction conduit 20 by an electricmotor 50 and, as the winder tending mechanism moves into registrationwith each winding head 11, it automatically swings a corresponding valveplate 51 (FIGURE 3) therewith to establish communication between therigid suction conduit 20 and a suction conduit 52 carried by the windertending mechanism 40, thus producing suction or negative pressure at theopen ends of the yarn ensnaring elements 46, 47.

Whenever the yarn Y becomes parted at any of the winding heads 11, thisis detected by the grates a, a in the manner heretofore described andautomatically causes the winder tending mechanism to dwell when itsubsequently approaches the corresponding winding head 11, and whereuponthe ensnaring elements 46, 47 move forwardly in opposite directions;i.e., upper ensnaring element 46 moves downwardly in an arcuate path aslower ensnaring element 47 moves upwardly in an arcuate path. In sodoing, the ensnaring element 47 moves into close proximity to the nipbetween the take-up roll 31 and the take-up package 25, the take-up roll31 moves in a reverse direction relative to its normal direction ofrotation and the yarn end extending from the package is sucked into theensnaring element 47. At the same time, the ensnaring element 46 movesdownwardly to a position adjacent or between grates a, a and guide eye34 to ensnare the lower portion of the yarn extending from the bobbin oractive supply package 13a.

Both of the ensnaring elements 46, 47 then return to their normalpositions shown in FIGURE 5 to draw the ends of the yarns from therespective packages 25, 13:! past each other as the knotter 45automatically moves forwardly or inwardly and engages the crossed endsof yarn and unites the same in a well-known manner. Thereafter, theknotter is withdrawn and the winder tending mechanism moves on to thenext winding head 11 which may have a broken yarn Y therein.

Whenever the yarn on the active supply package 13a is exhausted, aspring-biased detecting element 55 (FIG- 6 URE 3) adjacent thecorresponding pocket 24 detects the absence of yarn on the correspondingbobbin to actu ate conventional release mechanism, not shown, for discharging the exhausted bobbin from the lower portion of thecorresponding chute 23 and pocket 24 into a bin 56 (FIGURE 5).

The detection of an exhausted bobbin by the detecting element 55 at anyof the winding heads 11 also automatically releases the lowermost bobbinpackage 13 from the corresponding magazine 12 which then drops into thechute 23 and replaces the previously exhausted active supply package13a. In so doing, the yarn Y of the new bobbin extends downwardly fromthe yarn capturing tube 17 so as to be ensnared by the yarn ensnaringelement 46 (FIGURE 5) the next time that the winder tending mechanism 40moves adjacent the corresponding winding head 11.

It should be noted that the divergent front edge portions of the lowerguide plate 37 (FIGURE 6) serve to lead the yarn into the guide eye 34While the divergent front edges of the upper plates 35, 36 serve to leadthe yarn into the slotted rear portion of plate 35 each time the yarn ispieced up in the manner heretofore described. Of course, the grates a, aare automatically separated, as are the tension elements b, b wheneverthe piecing of a broken end occurs and are then automatically permittedto return to their normal positions so that the yarn is automaticallyinserted between the grates a, a and the tension elements b, b as wellas being inserted through the slub-catcher 0 whenever the strand fromthe receiving or take-up package 25 is united with the strand from theactive supply package 13a by the winder tending mechanism in the mannerheretofore described.

From the foregoing description, it is apparent that excessiveaccumulations of lint and other light material or foreign matter on theupper end of the yarn capturing tube 17, on the ends of the yarnensnaring elements 46, 47, on the plates 35, 36, 37, on the guide eye34, on the grates a, a, between and on the tension elements 12, b and onthe slub-catcher 0 can produce defects in the yarn being wound and, moreespecially, will frequently cause malfunction of the grates a, a, thetension elements b, b, the slub-catcher c, and the detecting element 55.The process of the present invention is particularly effective inkeeping these critical elements of the winding machine 10 in cleancondition over prolonged periods of time, thus greatly increasing theelliciency of the automatic winding machine to an extent which has notbeen obtainable heretofore with the usual types of cleaning devices andmethods employed.

Heretofore, automatic winding machines of the type described have beenequipped with a blower moving on a track longitudinally of each windingmachine, and having a single air discharge nozzle thereon whichdischarged a single non-oscillating relatively low velocity stream ofair extending over a relatively wide area. This stream of air wouldremove lint from certain easy-to-reach parts of the automatic windingmachine. However, it Was largely ineffective in reaching the morecritical areas of the automatic winding machine, particularly the yarnguiding, detecting and inspecting elements heretofore described andwhich are best shown in the lower central portion of FIG- URE 6.

According to the present invention, a plurality of fine jet highvelocity air streams are caused to travel longitudinally of the machineor machines 10 while oscillating laterally of the path of travelthereof, with the high velocity fine jet air streams being directedtoward the machine in such a manner as to transverse the critical aswell as adjacent less critical elements of the machine to effectivelyremove and prevent accumulation of excessive lint on the critical partsof the machine. As a desirable adjunct to the process, heretoforedescribed of blowing lint from critical areas of the automatic windingmachine, lint thus removed from such critical areas which has settled onthe floor is sucked therefrom into a collection chamber traveling inunison with the high velocity air streams. Suitable apparatus forcarrying out the process of the present invention will now be described.

The high velocity fine jet oscillating air streams are produced by anoverhead mounted traveling blowing cleaner broadly designated at 60 andwhich operates in conjunction with a traveling suction floor cleanerbroadly designated at 61. With the exceptions of the depending blowingtubes and the oscillating means therefor, traveling blowing cleaner 60may be of the type disclosed in US. Patent No. 3,055,038, datedSeptember 25, 1962. The entire traveling blowing cleaner 60 also may beof the type disclosed in copending application Serial No. 367,323, filedMay 14, 1964 and entitled Traveling Cleaner for Looms and Method.

The traveling suction floor cleaner 61 may be of the type disclosed andclaimed in US. Patent No. 3,011,202, dated December 5, 1961 or of a typesuch as is shown in copending application Serial No. 105,073, filedApril 24, 1961 and entitled Traveling Suction Cleaner for Textile Mills,now Patent No. 3,188,680. Accordingly, only so much of the travelingcleaners 60, 61 will be described as is necessary to a clearunderstanding of the invention and to clearly support the claimedsubject matter of this application. The traveling cleaners 60, 61 areshown mounted on an elongate track 62 extending above and longitudinallyof the machine or row of machines 10.

The traveling blowing cleaner 60 comprises a hollow blower housing 65 ofv'olute form in plan and having a pair of outwardly curved substantiallylaterally opposed ducts 66, 66' thereon whose ends are curved downwardlyfor pivotally supporting respective hollow couplings 67, 67' pivotallyconnected thereto as at 70, 70 (FIGURE and communicatively connectedthereto by respective flexible boot-s 71, 71.

A group of high velocity air blowing tubes, each of relatively smalldiameter, and made from a rigid material such as plastic, is suitablysecured to the substantially closed lower end of each coupling 67 67 forcommunication with the interior thereof. In this instance, three blowingtubes 73, '74, 75 are communicatively connected to coupling 67 anddepend therefrom, and three blowing tubes 73', 74', 75 arecommunicatively connected to and depend from coupling 67. The blowingtubes 73, 74, 75, 73', 74, 75 are preferably connected to couplings 67,67' by means of flexible tubular connector elements 76 so the tubes mayyield upon engaging any parts of the machine or the operator duringtravel and oscillation thereof. The arrangement of the blowing tubes andnozzles thereof with respect to the automatic winding machine will belater described.

Housing 65 contains a high air velocity impeller or fan 80 disposedabove and driven by an electric motor 81 mounted on a wheeled carriage82. Carriage 82 has wheels 85 thereon which ride upon track 62 and thepair of wheels 85 are driven by an electric motor 86 which may be of thereversible type, depending upon whether track 62 is double-ended orendless.

Housing 65 is suitably supported upon and attached to the upper portionof electric motor 81 and a lower or medial portion of motor 81 also hasan annular plate 90 suitably attached thereto upon which a ratchet wheel91 is supported for stepwise rotational movement. Ratchet wheel 91supports an annular filter 92 thereon, whose upper edge portion rotatesin substantially sealing engagement with the lower wall of housing 65.Filter 92 filters air drawn into housing 65 by impeller 80 as theimpeller discharges the air through the duct 66, 66', couplings 67, 67,and tubes 73-75, 7375.

Stepwise rotation is imparted to ratchet wheel 91 and filter 92, andlateral oscillation is imparted to couplings 67, 67, by means ofintervening connections with a relatively small electric motor 95disposed inwardly of and carried by the downwardly projecting outer endportion of the duct 66' of blower housing 65 (FIGURES 5 and 7). To thisend, an extensibly adjustable link 96 extends from a disk 2 (FIGURES 2and 7) on motor to the upper portion of a lever 97 whose medial portionis fixed on pivot 70 so as to oscillate coupling 67. The lower end oflever 97 is connected by links 101, 102 and a swing arm 103, to a bellcrank 104 (FIGURE 7) pivotally mounted on the lower surface of annularplate 90 and having a spring loaded pawl thereon biased against ratchetwheel 91.

Links 101, 102 are preferably of the extensibly adjustable type and arepreferably adjustably connected to arm 103 and bell crank 104 so as topermit variation of the throw of pawl 105 relative to that of coupling67. Arm

103 is pivotally suspended from plate 90. Extensibly adjustable links106, 106', 107 interconnect couplings 67, 67'. Links 106, 106 areadjustably connected to swing arms 110, 110' pivotally suspended fromplate 90 and opposite ends of link 107 are adjustably connected to arms110, 110' thereby permitting adjustment of the extent and range of throwof coupling 67 relative to that of coupling 67.

In order to prevent clogging of annular filter 92, the alined mouths ofblowing and suction nozzles 113, 114, suitably supported by housing 65,are disposed closely adjacent respective inner and outer surfaces ofannular filter 92. Filter-cleaning blowing nozzle 113 is connected toair outlet duct 66 by a conduit 115. A conduit 116 connectsfilter-cleaning suction nozzle 114 to the inlet side of the suctionhousing 120 of suction floor cleaner 61.

The blowing tubes 7375, 7 3'75 are of relatively varying lengths andhave respective blowing nozzles 73a-75a,

73a75a thereon provided with air discharge openings.

of relatively small diameter of from about /2 inch to about 1% inchespositioned as close as is practicable to the parts of the automaticwinding machine to be cleaned so as to direct fine jet air streams atnozzle velocities of at least 5000 feet per minute toward and past suchparts during longitudinal travel and lateral oscillation of the nozzlesalong the machine. Favorable results have been obtained by using nozzleswhose discharge orifices are from about 5 inch to about 1%; inchesdiameter.

Blowing nozzles 73a, 76a oscillate a short distance above the horizontalplane of magazines 12 and from adjacent the front of the magazines 12 topoint sufiiciently rearwardly of the magazines to cause the fine jet airstreams therefrom to impinge upon the critical operatinginstrumentalities 17, 22, 3437, a, a, b, b and 0 (FIG- URE 6) of eachsuccessive winding head 11. Although nozzle 73a, 74a trace similarpaths, it is important to note that the nozzle 73a is angularly disposedrelative to nozzle 74a so the air streams are discharged from nozzles73a, 74a at different angles. This arrangement not only subjects manyparts of the machine to attack of high velocity air streams at differentangles, but it insures that parts of the machine which may be shieldedthereabove by other parts of the machine or by the take-up packages 25are subjected to the air stream from nozzle 73a. The angular attitude ofnozzle 73a also directs the air stream therefrom so it removes lint fromthe operating elements of the knotter 45 on the winder tending mechanism40.

Nozzle 75a swings on a higher level than nozzles 73a, 74a, and inwardlythereof, so as to direct a high velocity fine jet air stream toward :andagainst the take-up rolls 31, the yarn take-up paskages 25 and thesupporting means therefor. To assist the air stream from nozzles 73a,74a in removing lint from the aforementioned critical operatinginstrumentalities and other elements in the lower portion of theautomatic winding machine, the nozzles 73a, 74a, 75a are positioned atdifferent levels and are curved inwardly toward the back side of themachine 10 so the high velocity fine jet air streams therefrom flow insubstantially horizontal directions while oscillating in a generallyvertical manner at their points of impingement against critical elementsof the machine.

In this instance, it should be noted that the fine jet air stream fromnozzles 73a impinges against the lower portion of the winder tendingmechanism 40, the active supply packages 13a, the pockets 24 thereforand the detecting elements 55 which detect the exhaustion of yarn fromthe active supply packages 13a. The fine jet air streams from blowingnozzles 73a, 74a cooperate in removing lint from the chutes 23, therigid suction conduit 20 and other adjacent areas of the machine.

The fine jet air streams from nozzle 74a also removes lint from themedial portions of winder tending mechanism 40, the grates a, a, tensiondevices b, b and slubcatchers c and other adjacent areas. The fine jetair stream from nozzle 75a assists in removing lint from the takeuprolls 31, the yarn ensnaring elements 46, 47, the rear portions of theyarn capturing tubes 17 and stoppers 22 and other upper portions of thewinder tending mechanism 40. The travel of the high velocity fine jetair streams longitudinally of the row of winding heads 11 is preferablyfrom about 30 to about 50 feet per minute and the preferred rate ofoscillation of the air streams generally normal to their paths of travelis from about 35 to about 65 complete back and forth oscillations perminute.

Since all the air streams are concentrated in the form of jets of smallarea and oscillate laterally while traveling lengthwise of the automaticwinding machine or row of machines, all critical areas of the machinesare cleaned effectively without interfering with the material in processor with any of the operating instrumentalities of the machines so thatthe machines may operate for prolonged periods of time without thenecessity for stopping the same for manual cleaning purposes.

In a typical installation, a 12-blade, 14-inch diameter fan 80 was usedwhich was driven by a two horsepower electric motor 81 at a speed ofabout 3500 revolutions per minute. The orifices of nozzles 74a, 75a wereabout 4 inch diameter; the orifices of nozzles 73a, 74a, 75a were aboutone inch diameter; and the orifice of nozzle 73a was about 1%; inchesdiameter. The air velocities at the different nozzles varied from about9,200 to about 11,000 feet per minute.

When the high velocity blowing nozzles 73a, 74a, 75a occupied the solidline positions of FIGURE 5, nozzle 73a was about 18 inches from gratesa, a (FIGURE 6) and the air stream impinged against the grates at avelocity of about 3300 feet per minute. Nozzles 74a, 75a were aboutinches and 7 inches from magazines 12 and takeup package 25,respectively, and the air streams therefrom impinged on the magazine 12and take-up package at velocities of about 7800 and about 8500 feet perminute respectively.

When nozzles 73a'75a' occupied the broken line positions of FIGURE 5,they were spaced from pocket 24, grates a, a and yarn ensnaring devices46, 47 about 12 inches, 18 inches, and 15 inches, respectively, and theair stream velocities at these machine parts were about 5300, 3400 and4300 feet per minute, respectively. This arrangement of the blowingnozzles and air velocities cleaned all critical elements .and adjacentareas very effectively and to such extent that the automatic windingmachine 10 operated eificiently, without down time for manual cleaning,for 24 hours or more following each manual cleaning of the machine 10.Even then, manual cleaning of an automatic winder having 50 windingheads 11 was carried out at approximately 24-hour intervals, by means ofa hand-held compressed air hose, within 2 to 3 minutes.

Heretofore, the type of Winding machine shown in the drawings had to bestopped and cleaned manually about every 4 to 5 hours and each manualcleaning of a SO-head machine required about 15 minutes. It is apparenttherefore that, in improving the efliciency of automatic wind-Velocities of Air from Various Nozzles Distance from Oi'ifices 1%! Dia.1" Dia. Dia. Dia.

Orifice Orifice Orifice Orifice The traveling suction cleaner 61 servesto suck lint removed from the various parts of the automatic windingmachines by the high velocity fine jet blowing air streams emanatingfrom nozzles 73a75a, 73a'-75a and conveys such lint into a collectortraveling generally with the blowing air streams. Accordingly, suctionhousing has a pair of outwardly extending ducts 121, 121' on oppositesides thereof whose distal ends extend downwardly and have respectiveflexible suction tubes 122, 122 communicatively connected thereto andstraddling the winding machine 10. The lower ends of suction tubes 122,122 have respective flared floor sweeping suction nozzles 123, 123thereon which are provided with spacer members 124, 124' which slideagainst the floor F and maintain a gap between each suction nozzle andthe floor.

Suction housing 120 of traveling suction cleaner 61 rests upon andcommunicates with a suction blower housing having an air impeller orsuction fan 131 therein (FIGURE 4) disposed above and driven by anelectric motor 132. Suction blower housing 130 is mounted on theelectric motor. Thus, electric motor 132 serves as a carriage fortraveling suction cleaner 61. Motor 132 has suitable wheels or rollers133 thereon which ride upon track 62. In this instance, a link 135connects the motor 132 and suction blower housing 130 to the carriage 82of the traveling blowing cleaner 60 so the two traveling cleaners 60, 61are maintained in predetermined spaced relationship and both travelingcleaners 60, 61 are propelled along track 62 by electric motor 86(FIGURE 1).

Suction blower housing 130 has a pair of opposed outwardly extendingoutlet ducts 136, 136' thereon connected in off-center relation torespective lint collection chambers 137, 137 which are preferablysubstantially cylindrical and positioned on substantially vertical axes.The upper and lower ends of the cylindrical walls 140, 140 of collectionchambers 137, 137 are closed by closure members 141, 142 and 141', 142',respectively. The bottom closure members 142, 142 serve as doors forcollector chambers 137, 137 and are hingedly connected to the respectivecylindrical Walls 140, 140'. The doors 142, 142' may be releasablysecured in closed position by suitable latch means 143 (FIGURE 1) and143' (FIG- URE 3). The cylindrical walls 140, 140 are partially formedof respective filters or screens 145, 145' to permit air to escape fromcollection chambers 137, 137 as lint is collected therein.

It is apparent that most of the lint and other light foreign matterremoved from the various parts of the automatic winding machine ormachines 10 settles upon the floor adjacent opposite sides of themachines and is thus sucked into the suction floor sweeping nozzles 123,123 and passes through the tubes 122, 122', the ducts 121, 121 andsuction housing 120 into the suction blower housing 130, whereupon fan131 blows the lint into the collection chambers 137, 137'. If desired,additional suc- 1 1' tion nozzles 150 may be provided for receiving someairborne lint before it reaches the fioor.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in theclaims.

We claim:

1. A process for removing lint tending to accumulate on operatinginstrumentalities of automatic textile winding machines, whichinstrumentalities include a longitudinal row of yarn guiding, inspectingand detecting elements positioned between respective supply and take-upyarn packages, and yarn ensnaring and tying elements cooperating withthe row of yarn guiding, inspecting and detecting elements; said processcomprising directing a plurality of high velocity fine jet air streamsdownwardly from an overhead source toward and in close proximity tocertain of said instrumentalities while traveling said streams along andadjacent said row of elements and while continuously oscillating saidstreams substantially in planes normal to the direction of travel ofsaid streams, and automatically repeating the travel of said streamsalong and adjacent said row of elements at sufficiently frequentintervals to maintain said certain instrumentalities substantially freeof lint.

2. A process for removing lint tending to accumulate on operatinginstrumentalities of an automatic textile winding machine, whichinstrumentalities include a longitudinal row of yarn guiding, inspectingand detecting elements positioned between respective supply and take-upyarn packages, and yarn ensnaring and tying elements cooperating withthe row of yarn guiding, inspecting and detecting elements; said processcomprising directing a plurality of high velocity fine jet air streamsdownwardly from an overhead source toward and in close proximity tocertain of said instrumentalities while traveling said streams along andadjacent said row of elements and while continuously oscillating saidstreams substantially in planes normal to their direction of travel,automatically repeating the travel of said streams along and adjacentsaid row of elements at sufiiciently frequent intervals to maintain saidcertain instrumentalities substantially free of lint, and sucking lintremoved from said certain instrumentalities into a collector travelinggenerally with said high velocity fine jet air streams.

3. A process of preventing excessive accumulations of lint and otherlight waste material on critical operating instrumentalities ofautomatic winding machines of the type having means for automaticallyreplenishing exhausted yarn supply packages and automatically piecing upany parted yarns between yarn supply packages and yarn take-up packagesat a row of winding unit and wherein said critical operatinginstrumentalities include cooperating yarn detecting grates, yarntension devices and slub-catchers through which yarns pass from thesupply packages .to the take-up packages; said proces comprisingautomatically traveling high velocity fine jet air streams along andadjacent the row of winding units while oscillating said streamssubstantially in planes normal tothe direction of travel of said streamsand thereby causing said streams to impinge against said operatinginstrumentalities during at least portions of the oscillations of saidstreams.

4. A process of preventing excessive accumulations of lint and otherlight waste material on critical operating instrumentalities ofautomatic winding machines of the type having means for automaticallyreplenishing exhausted yarn supply packages and automatically piecing upany parted yarns between yarn supply packages and yarn take-up packagesat a row of winding units and wherein said critical operatinginstrumentalities include cooperating yarn detecting grates, yarntension devices and slub-catchers through which yarns pass from thesupply packages to the take-up packages; said process comprisingautomatically traveling high velocity fine jet air streams along the rowof winding units while oscillating said streams substantially in planesnormal to the direction of travel of said streams, and while directingsaid streams at various angles toward and against certain of saidoperating instrumentalities in the course of travel and oscillation ofsaid streams, and whereby said streams remove lint from said operatinginstrumentalities.

5. A process for removing lint tending to accumulate on operatinginstrumentalities of an automatic textile winding machine, whichinstrumentalities include a longitudinal row of yarn guiding, inspectingand detecting elements positioned between respective supply and take-upyarn packages and yarn ensnaring and tying elements cooperating with therow of yarn guiding, inspecting and detecting elements; said processcomprising directing a plurality of fine jet air streams downwardly froman overhead source onto certain of said instrumentalities at velocitiesof at least 2000 feet per minute while traveling said streams along saidrow of elements and while continuously oscillating said streamssubstantially in planes normal to their path of travel, andautomatically repeating the travel of said streams along said row ofelements at sufficiently frequent intervals to maintain saidcertaininstrumentalities substantially free of lint.

6. A process for removing lint from operating instrumentalities of anautomatic textile winding machine, which instrumentalitie include alongitudinal row of yarn guiding, inspecting and detecting elementspositioned between respective supply and take-up yarn packages and yarnensnaring and tying elements cooperating with the row of yarn guiding,inspecting and detecting elements; said process comprising directing aplurality of fine jet air streams downwardly through nozzle from anoverhead source onto certain of said instrumentalities at nozzlevelocities in excess of 5000 feet per minute while traveling saidstreams along said row of elements and while continuously oscillatingsaid streams substantially in planes normal to the path of travel ofsaid air streams, and automatically repeating the travei of said streamsalong said row of elements at sufiiciently frequent intervals tomaintain said certain instrumentalities substantially free of lint.

7. A process of preventing excessive accumulations of lint and otherlight waste material on critical operating instrumentalities ofautomatic winding machines of the type having means for automaticallyreplenishing exhausted yarn supply packages and automatically piecing upany parted yarns between yarn supply package and yarn take-up packagesat a row of winding units and wherein said critical operatinginstrumentalities include cooperating yarn detecting grates, yarntension devices and slubcatchers through which yarns pass from thesupply packages to the take-up packages; said process comprisingautomatically traveling along the row of winding units a plurality ofsmall air nozzles having a minimum internal diameter of not over 1%inches emitting high velocity fine jet air streams while arcuatelyoscillating said nozzles substantially in planes normal to the directionof travel of said streams and directing said streams to impinge at highvelocities against said operating instrumentalities during the traveland oscillation of said streams.

8. A process for removing lint tending to accumulate on operatinginstrumentalities of an automatic textile winding machine, whichinstrumentalities include a longitudinal row of yarn guiding, inspectingand detecting elements positioned between respective supply and take-upyarn packages and yarn ensnaring and tying elements cooperating with therow of yarn guiding, inspecting and detecting elements; said processcomprising directing a plurality of high velocity fine jet air streamsdownwardly through nozzles from an overhead source toward and in closeproximity to certain of said instrumentalities at nozzle velocities ofat least 5000 feet per minute, while moving said streams along said rowof elements at a speed of from about 30 to about 50 feet per minute,while continuously oscillating said streams substantially in planesnormal to said row of elements at a rate of from about 35 to about 65complete oscillations per minute, and automatically repeating themovement of said streams along said row of elements at sufiicientlyfrequent. intervals to maintain said certain instrumentalitiessubstantially free of lint.

9. A process of preventing excessive accumulations of lint and otherlight waste material on critical operating instrumentalities ofautomatic winding machines of the type having means for automaticallyreplenishing exhausted yarn supply packages and automatically piecing upany parted yarns between yarn supply packages and yarn take-up packagesat a row of Winding units and wherein said critical operatinginstrumentalities include cooperating yarn detecting grates, yarntension devices and slubcatchers through which yarns pass from thesupply packages to the take-up packages; said process comprisingautomatically moving a plurality of small air nozzles, emitting highvelocity fine jet air streams, along the row of winding units at from 30to 50 feet per minute while arcuately oscillating said nozzles fromabout 35 to about 65 complete oscillations per minute substantially inplanes normal to the direction of travel of said streams and whiledirecting said streams to impinge at velocities of at least 2000 feetper minute against said operating instrumentalities during the traveland oscillation of said streams.

10. A process for removing lint tending to accumulate on operatinginstrumentalities of an automatic textile winding machine, whichinstrumentalities include a longitudinal row of yarn guiding, inspectingand detecting elements positioned between respective supply and take-upyarn packages, and yarn ensnaring and tying elements cooperating withthe row of yarn guiding, inspecting and detecting elements; said processcomprising directing a plurality of high velocity fine jet air streamsdownwardly from an overhead source toward and in close proximity tocertain of said instrumentalities while moving said streams along andadjacent said row of elements and while continuously oscillating saidstreams substantially in planes normal to their direction of movementalong said row of elements causing at least some of the removed lint tosettle on the floor adjacent the machine, automatically repeating themovement of said streams along said row of elements at suflicientlyfrequent intervals to maintain said certain instrumentali-tiessubstantially free of lint, producing at least one suction zone adjacentthe floor, automatically moving said suction zone substantially parallelwith said row of elements, and conveying lint sucked into said zone fromthe floor into a collector traveling generally with said high velocityfine jet oscillating air streams.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 7/1962 Great Britain.1/ 1963 Great Britain.

STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner.

1. A PROCESS FOR REMOVING LINT TENDING TO ACCUMULATE ON OPERATINGINSTRUMENTALITIES OF AUTOMATIC TEXTILE WINDING MACHINES, WHICHINSTRUMENTALITIES INCLUDE A LONGITUDINAL ROW OF YARN GUIDING, INSPECTINGAND DETECTING ELEMENTS POSITIONED BETWEEN RESPECTIVE SUPPLY AND TAKE-UPYARN PACKAGES, AND YARN ENSNARING AND TYING ELEMENTS COOPERATING WITHTHE ROW OF YARN GUIDING, INSPECTING AND DETECTING ELEMENTS; SAID PROCESSCOMPRISING DIRECTING A PLURALITY OF HIGH VELOCITY FINE JET AIR STREAMSDOWNWARDLY FROM AN OVERHEAD SOURCE TOWARD AND IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TOCERTAIN OF SAID INSTRUMENTALITIES WHILE TRAVELING SAID STREAMS ALONG ANDADJACENT SAID ROW OF ELEMENTS AND WHILE CONTINUOUSLY OSCILLATING SAIDSTREAMS SUBSTANTIALLY IN PLANES NORMAL TO THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OFSAID STREAMS, AND AUTOMATICALLY REPEATING THE TRAVEL OF SAID STREAMSALONG AND ADJACENT SAID ROW OF ELEMENTS AT SUFFICIENTLY FREQUENTINTERVALS TO MAINTAIN SAID CERTAIN INSTRUMENTALITIES SUBSTANTIALLY FREEOF LINT.